, Staff Writer
Comment on this story
The students in the hallway sat nervously next to their props -- a mounted deer head, a bucket of window-washing gear, a dog. They were about to clear one of the final hurdles before graduation from Smithfield-Selma High School: presenting their senior projects.All freshmen who enrolled in a North Carolina high school this academic year will be required to complete a senior project before they can graduate in 2010.The state is among only a handful to insist on the projects, although some schools and districts throughout the country have used them since the 1980s. Students in Orange County, for example, as well as individual schools such as Southeast Raleigh High School require senior projects.In Johnston County, it has been a rite of passage for seniors since 2002.The projects are often a combination of academic research, community service and job shadowing. Students write papers and complete projects that often send them into the community. They present their findings and produce a "product," such as a performance, a charity fundraiser or something they created.Some projects are hands on, such as that of Adam Emanuel, whose research on entrepreneurship turned into a window-washing business. Others are more academic. Nan Daniels researched the importance of taking foreign-language classes at a young age and created a book she read to elementary school students."This brings real work right to their front door," said Carleen Osher, director of the Oregon-based Senior Project Center. "It allows students to explore and use skills that aren't so easily measured on a pencil-and-paper test."State educators approved the addition of the projects in 2005 as part of tougher graduation requirements, along with tests in English, algebra, biology, history, civics and economics.The projects were required in Johnston to give students a chance to do something more concrete, said Keith Beamon, associate superintendent of curriculum for Johnston County schools."It was a way of answering the question of 'How am I ever going to use what I'm learning in high school?' " Beamon said. "This makes it relevant and shows them how the pieces fit together."Their topics are as varied at teenagers' interests: teaching tennis, building homes, playing instruments, sending supplies to orphanages. Coordinators say the best topics are the ones that students feel passionate about and that test their academic and social skills."It needs to be a stretch," said Dina Swales, one of two teachers heading the projects at Smithfield-Selma. "It needs to be something that takes them a little bit out of their comfort zone."For Trenton Langston, that meant asking for money and time from his classmates and community. Langston was shocked to find that children in developing countries still die of measles, a disease that has been eliminated in the western hemisphere through readily available vaccines.He organized a charity walk-a-thon that raised more than $200 to vaccinate children."I saved 200 children for my project," Langston said. "I feel pretty good about that."For many students, the projects move from a chore to a passion."I really enjoyed this project, even if it was kind of a pain," said Whitney Womack, who researched the history of forensic science. Womack wants to go into law enforcement and can now rattle off trivia about early forensics innovators.She has even been continuing her research. She recently found a way to dust for fingerprints using cocoa and a horsehair brush."You have to be real light with it," she said.Although senior projects are becoming more common, they aren't always popular. Some districts have backed away from them when parents complained that seniors are already loaded down with Advanced Placement courses and college applications.Osher downplayed such concerns."What you have to do as a senior compared to what most people do in their daily lives in the work force is relatively simple," Osher said. "Yes, they're busy, but compared to the responsibilities that will face them, the senior year is pretty small fish."(Staff writer Samiha Khanna contributed to this report.)
Staff writer Marti Maguire can be reached at 829-4841 or mmaguire@newsobserver.com.
Staff writer Samiha Khanna contributed to this report.